Tape feed-out mechanism



Nov. 25, 1958 c. w. SWAN TAPE FEED-OUT MECHANISM Filed Feb. 9, 1955 FIG. 3

IINVENTOR CARL w. SWAN United States Patent TAPE FEED-our MECHANISM Carl W. Swan, Sirokie, 111., assignor to Teletype Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application February 9, 1955, Serial No. 487,014 12 Claims. (Cl. 178-42) The present invention relates to printing telegraph apparatus and more particularly to tape feeding mechanisms therefor.

One object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for feeding out a predetermined amount of tape in response to an independent signal.

Another object is to provide a mechanical tape feedout mechanism which will not interfere with the recording of any signal received by the printing telegraph while it is in operation.

Still another object is to provide a printing telegraph machine with a tape feed-out which can be disabled independently of its actuating force.

Specifically, when the tape feed-out of the present invention is employed with a reperforator, a trip lever is moved downward by, and out of engagement with, an independently activated armature or plate to unlatch a cam lever. The cam lever or follower is thus allowed to ride on an eccentric cam on a main shaft. The oscillatory motion of the cam lever is translated to the feedout pawls which advance the tape feed ratchet to accom' plish the feed-out operation. The length of tape to be thus fed out is controlled by a separate metering wheel which is powered by the main shaft through advancing pawls moved into engagement by the trip lever. The metering wheel being adapted to relatch the cam lever after a predetermined amount of angular advance. The feed-out device is also adapted to be released by the stripper bail of the recording unit upon receipt ofany signal by the recording unit.

The foregoing and other objects and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the feed-out mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the non-interfering trip mechanism as it is associated with the selector; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the association of the parts set forth in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 1 the present invention is indicated as being incorporated in a typing reperforator mechanism such as is disclosed in the copending application Serial No. 475,628, filed December 16, 1954, by R. E. Arko, E. A. Gubisch and W. I. Zenner. For the sake of clarity, only those parts of the typing reperforator which are associated with the present invention are shown. The cooperating parts are well known in the printing telegraph art and exemplified in the afore-mentioned Arko te al. application. Where the common parts are numbered, the designation is the same in this application as in the Arko et al. application.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the push button or initiating assembly 11 is suitably mounted on the recording or reperforating unit which, for purposes of illustration, is considered to be similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned Arko et al. application. It is, of course, understood that the present invention can be utilized with any tape printer and/or reperforator. Associated with the push button assembly 11 is a plate 12. A trip-off lever 13 is pivotally attached to a dual latching arm 14. One extension 16 of the trip-off lever is in latched relationship with the plate 12 while the end of the middle exten sion 17 rests on the stationary stud 18. The lower extension 19 of the trip lever 13 supports the meter pawl 21 and thereby the lock pawl 22 to prevent their rotation about their pivot 25 by a spring 24 into engagement with a meter wheel 26. The latching arm. 14 is pivotally mounted on the stationary stud 18 and is adapted to be rotated counterclockwise (Fig. 1) about the stud 18 by a downward movement of the trip-off lever 13. A pivotally mounted blocking or latching lever 27 is mounted at a pivot 28. The upper extension 29 of the blocking lever 27 is positioned to block the clockwise (Fig. 1) rotation of the latching arm 14 and to be blocked against counterclockwise (Fig. 1) rotation by the latching arm 14. The latching arm 14 and the blocking lever 27 are constantly urged to rotate in a clockwise and a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1) respectively by the spring 31 attached therebetween. The feed-out operating lever 32 is rigidly keyed to a shaft 35. The upper extension 33 of the operating lever 32 is in latching relationship with the shoulder 34 of the latching arm 14 while the forward extension 36 of the operating lever 32 is urged, by its spring 37, toward an eccentric cam 38 keyed to the main operating shaft 101 of the recording unit. Also keyed to the main shaft 101 is a helical gear 39 which is associated with a gear 41 to turn themeter advancing shaft 42. An eccentric plate 43 having the meter pawl 21 attached thereto is fastened to the meter advancing shaft so as to impartreciprocating motion to the meter pawl 21. The meter pawl 21 is positioned so as to be engageable with the meter wheel 26 to advance the meter wheel 26 counterclockwise (Fig. 1). A stop lever 44 is keyed to the meter wheel 26 and rotated thereby to engage the forward extension 46 of the blocking lever 27 to rotate it in a clockwisedirection (Fig. 1) about its pivot 28.

A feed-out or stepping pawl 47 is associated at one end with the tape feed ratchet 48 and joined at the other end with an interponent 49 whereby the oscillatory motion of the shaft 35 is transmitted to advance and withdraw the feed-out pawl 47 enabling said pawl to step the tape feed ratchet 48 and thereby advance the tape 51. (The tape feed mechanism is shown in Fig. 2 of the Arko application). The feed pawl 55 shown in Fig. 1 is the normal tape feed motivating pawl.

In the past, tape feed-out mechanisms have been primarily dependent upon electrical control operating through the circuits of the recorder. The present invention is entirely mechanical so that the recorder circuits are not altered by its use. The initiation of operation may, of course, be accomplished by an independent magnet and armature instead of the push button as shown so as to allow remote initiation.

Referring now to Fig. 2 a lever 52 is keyed to one end of a cylindrical member 53 and is positioned to be pivot ed by the movement of the selector stripping bail 54 of the selector assembly 23 (Fig. 7, Arko et al.) of the recording unit. The selector stripping bail 54 is utilized in this particular illustration because of its early activation in the selecting cycle, but any other motion of the selecting cycle can, of course, be employed to pivot the lever 52 should it be found advantageous in this or any other recorder. A second lever 56 is keyed to the opposite end of the cylindrical member 53 so as to be rotatable by the rotation of the first lever 52. An upper forward extension 57 of the blocking lever 27 is in engagement with the second lever 56 so as to cause the rotation of the et al.

blocking lever 27 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) when the second lever 56 is rotated counterclockwise (Fig. 2) by the afore-mentioned movement of the first lever 52 and the cylindrical-member 53..

In operation, the mechanical tape 'feed-out is initiated by pivoting the .plate-12 i-n a counterclockwise direction (:Fig. 1) about its pivot point 58. This may be accomplishedwith the push button 59' or, --for remote initiation, an electromagnet positioned beneath the plate or any other convenientmethod. -When theplate 12 is moved downwardthe trip lever 13,-its upper extension 16 being in.latchingrelationship with said-plate, moves downward. Since the middleextension-17 is resting on-the stationary stud 18, the trip lever 13 'is-rotatedin'a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1) about its -pivot61 thereby moving the upped .extension 16 out.of latching relationship with the plate 12. The feed-out is thus rendered independent of any.future movements of'the-plate -12 so that the feedout mechanism can be disabled even if the plate-12 should for some reason not return to its normal position.

As the trip lever .13 moves downward, the latching arm 14 is pivoted counterclockwise (Fig. 1 about its pivot 18 thereby unblocking the upper extension 33 of the feed-out operating lever to allow the lower extension 36 of the operating lever 32 to be urged against the eccentric cam 38 which is keyed to the main operating shaft 101 of the recording unit. It is, of course, understood that the recording unit motor is in operation at this time and that the main operating shaft 101 is rotating at a constant speed. When the latching lever 14 is caused to rotate, the blocking shoulder 62 is moved out of contact with the upper extension 29 of the blocking lever 27 which allows the blocking lever 27 to be rotated counterclockwise Fig. 1, about its pivot 28 and come into blocking or latching engagement with the shoulder 63 of the latching lever 14 to hold it in its rotated position. The lower extension 36 of the operating lever 32 is thus allowed to ride on the eccentric cam 38 as it is rotated by the main shaft 101. The resultant oscillatory movement is transmitted through the shaft 35 to the interponent 49 and to the stepping pawl 47. T-heoscillation of the pawl 47 will thus step the ratchet 48 of the recording unit tape feed assembly 50 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) thereby feeding out the tape 51,

Simultaneous with the above-described movements, the metering device 64 is actuated to control the length of tape to be fed out by the feed-out mechanism 50. The operation of the metering device 64 is initiated by the same downward movement of the trip lever 13 that initiates the feed-out operation as described in the preceding paragraph. As the' lower extension 19, of the trip off lever moves downward it permits the pawl 21 to be pivoted into engagement with 'the metering ratchet 26. The pawl 21 is driven in areciprocating manner by the eccentric 43 which is constantly rotated by the main shaft 101 through the cooperation 'of the helical gear 39 keyed to the main shaft 101, pinion 41, and shaft 42. The arm 44 is adjustably keyed to the meter ratchet 26 so as to be rotated therewith. After the arm 44 has been rotated through a predetermined portion of a revolution, it will come into contact with the lower extension .46 of the blocking lever 27. Further rotation of the meter ratchet 26 and the arm 44 will cause the blocking lever 27 to be rotated clockwise (Fig. 1) to move the shoulder 63. out of blocking engagement and permit the latching arm 14 to be rotated in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) and be latched there by blocking lever 27. The feed-out operating lever is thus latched up at the point of its furthest clockwise (Fig. 1) oscillation by the shoulder 34 of the t n m o ra g th e upper exte s on .3 of the operating lever 32. It is obvious that the result of the foregoing operation is to hold the forward extension 36of the operating lever 32 out of contact with the eccentric cam 38 while the clockwise (Fig. 1) rotation of the latching arm 14 also returns the tripping lever 13 to its uninitiated position (without regard to the plate 12) and thereby pivots the meter pawl 21 out of engagement with the meter ratchet 26. The meter ratchet 26 and the arm 44 are returned to their starting position by a spring (not shown).

It will be noted that none of the foregoing operation is dependentupon alteration of the normal operation of the recorder. .With the exception of power from the main shaft and the utilization of the tape feed assembly, the present invention is completely independent. If it should for some reason be desirable, separate power and feed means could be used without altering the present device or its operation.

The signal responsive control for the non-interfering feature of the present invention is shown in Fig. 2. The lever 52 is keyed to the cylindrical member 53 and positioned so as to be rotatable by the operation of the strip per bail 54. When the stripper bail operates, 'itrotates the lever 52 and therby the cylindrical member 53 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. .2). The lever 56 is keyed to the opposite end of the cylindrical member 53 so as to be rotated with the cylindrical member. When a signal is received by the .recorder, the operation of the stripper bail 54 rotates the lever 52 and thereby the cylindrical member 53 and the lever 56. Rotation of the lever 56 rotates the blocking lever 27 through contact with its upper extension 57, in the same manner and with the same results as that which is accomplished by rotation of the blocking lever 27 by the stop lever 44 as set forth in the foregoing description.

Referring again to Fig. 1, it is noted that the duallatching arm has two latching instrumentalities, or shoulders, 34 and 4t), the purpose and positioning of which will be subsequently explained.

It is apparent that should the unblocking of the latching arm 14 take place at a time when the operating lever 32 has advanced beyond the shoulder 34, the tape feed operation would occur and would interfere with the printing operation. A further feature of the present invention is the prevention of such an occurrence. As set forth in the preceding paragraph, the latching arm 14 is conditioned for holding the operating lever 32 against operation when the stripping bail 54 causes block- I ing lever 27 to be rotated out of its blocking relationship with the latching arm 14. If this should occur after the operating lever 32 has been rotated past the shoulder 34, a second shoulder 40 has been provided to latch up the operating lever 32 after it has started its forward oscillation but before it has advanced far enough to feed the tape. If the unblocking should take place after the operating lever 32 has passed the shoulder 40, the feed-out operation will have been completed prior to the printing operation. When the unblocking occurs while the operating lever 32 is past shoulder 34 but latched by the shoulder 40 the lever 32 will not step the feed mechanism forward and will be rotated to be permanently latched by shoulder 34 at its point of furthest clockwise rotation by the subsequent rotation of the eccentric cam 38. The operating lever is thus held in its position of minimum contact with the cam 38 so as to be subject to minimum oscillation during its period of inoperation.

While the present invention has been explained and illustrated in a specific embodiment, it should be understood that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telegraph recorder a tape feed-out mechanism comprising a tape feeding means, a constantly rotating shaft, an eccentric cam constantly rotated by said shaft, an operating member adapted to be selectively oscillated by said cam, an auxiliary ta'pe feeding means operable by theoscillation of said operating member, a latching means for preventing oscillation of said operating member, a.

' pendent of said recorder, a control means adapted to be actuated by said initiating means, a first latching means controlled by said control means for holding said auxiliary tape feed assembly against operation by said power means, a second latching means for facilitating the operation of said auxiliary tape feed assembly by said power means, and a signal responsive means for rendering said second latching means inoperative.

3. In a telegraph recorder, a tape feed assembly, a

power means, an auxiliary tape feeding assembly cooperable with said power means, a metering device operable by said power means, a control means adapted to be initiated by a force independent of said recorder, a first latching means controlled by said control means for holding said feeding assembly against cooperation with said power means, instrumentalities controlled by said control means for holding said metering device against cooperation with said power means, a second latching means for facilitating the cooperation of said feeding assembly with said power means, and means controlled by said metering device for rendering said second latching means inoperative whereby a predetermined length of tape is fed out in response to an independent initiating force.

4. In combination with a tape feed-out device, a signal responsive means, a constantly rotating shaft, a cam mounted on said shaft, an auxiliary shaft operatively connected to said constantly rotating shaft, a metering device, reciprocating means carried by said auxiliary shaft, instrumentalities for rendering said reciprocating means selectively cooperable with said metering device, feeding means operatively associated with said cam, a first latching means effective under certain operating conditions to block the action of said feeding means, a second latching means effective under other operating conditions to facilitate operation of said feeding means, and means associated with said second latching means dually controllable by said metering device and said-signal responsive means whereby a predeterminable length of tape is fed out.

5. In combination with a tape feeding device, a device for feeding out a predetermined amount of blank tape comprising, a signal responsive means, a constantly rotating shaft, a cam mounted on said shaft, an auxiliary shaft operatively connected to said constantly rotating shaft, a metering device, reciprocating means carriedby said auxiliary shaft, instrumentalities for rendering said reciprocating means selectively cooperable with said metering device, feeding means operatively associated with said cam, a first latching means effective under certain operating conditions for blocking said feeding means, a second latching means effective under other operating conditions to facilitate operation of said feeding means, and means selectively controlled by said signal responsive means or said metering device for disabling said second latching means.

6. In a telegraph recorder, a tape feed mechanism, a power means, an auxiliary feeding assembly operable by said power means, a metering device operable by said power means, a control means adapted to be initiated by a force independent of said recorder, a first latching means controlled by said independent control means for holding said feeding assembly against operation by said power means, instrumentalities controlled by said independent control means for holding said metering device against operation by said power means, a second latching means adapted to facilitate operation of said feeding assembly by said power means, signal responsive means in said recorder, and means selectively controlled by said signal responsive means or said metering device for rendering said second latching means inoperative, where by a predetermined length of tape is fed out in response to a force independent of said recorder but may be interrupted by operation of the signal responsive means.

7. In a telegraph recorder, a tape feeding device, a constantly rotating shaft, an operating member adapted to be selectively oscillated by said shaft, an auxiliary tape advancing means operable by oscillation of said operating member, metering means selectively operable by said shaft, instrumentalities for rendering said metering device operable by said shaft, control means for engaging said operating member With said shaft, latching means for preventing oscillation of said operating member, and meter controlled means for actuating said latching means whereby a predetermined length of tape is fed out of a telegraph recorder.

8. In a non-interfering tape feed-out mechanism for a telegraph recorder having a tape feeding device, an operating member, constantly moving means for selectively oscillating said operating member, auxiliary tape stepping means operable by the oscillation of said operating member, control means for engaging said operating member with said oscillating means, control means for disengaging said oscillating means, and signal controlled means for preventing operation of the auxiliary stepping 1 means during the recording operation.

9. A non-interfering tape feed-out mechanism for a telegraph recorder having a tape feeding device comprising a stepping member for advancing said tape feeding device, a pivotally mounted operating member, means for pivoting said operating member through a predetermined arc from its home position, means for returning said operating member to its home position, means controlied by the pivoting of the operating member through said predetermined are for withdrawing said stepping member and by the return of said operating member to its home position for advancing said stepping member, a dual latching member having instrumentalities for latching said operating member either in its pivotal position or before its return to said home position, control means for moving said latching member out of engagement with said operating member, and signal responsive means for conditioning said latching member for engagement with said operating member.

10. In a telegraph recorder, a non-interfering tape feed-out mechanism comprising a tape feeding device, an operating member, means for selectively oscillating said operating member through a predetermined arc, an auxiliary tape feeding means adapted to be advanced by a portion of the oscillation of said operating member, control means for engaging said oscillating means with said operating member, a first latching means positioned at one end of said predetermined are for preventing oscillation of said operating member, a second latching means positioned Within said predetermined are for limiting the oscillation of said operating member, and a signal responsive means for actuating said first or second latching means, whereby a signal received prior to the advancing portion of the operating member oscillation will prevent advancement of the auxiliary tape feeding means.

11. In a tape feed-out mechanism for a telegraph recorder, a tape feeding device, a constantly rotating shaft, an eccentric cam positioned on said shaft, an operating lever, means for urging said operating lever into contact with said cam, auxiliary feed-out means adapted to be advanced by the cooperation of the operating lever with a predetermined portion of said cam, a latching means adapted to selectively latch said operating member at its position of cooperation with the high point of the cam, a second latching means adapted to selectively latch the operating member against cooperation with said predetermined portion of the cam, a first control means for rendering saidifirst and second latching means inoperative, and signal responsive control means for initiating operation of said first or second latching means whereby the tape advancing operation will not be initiated after the receipt of a signal in the recorder.

12. ln a non-interfering tape feed-out mechanism for a telegraph recorder having a tape feeding device, an auxiliary stepping member associated with said tape feeding device, a constantly rotating shaft, an eccentric cam mounted on said shaft, acam follower normally urged into contact with said cam, means controlled by the co operation of said cam follower with a first predetermined portion of .said cam for. advancing said stepping member and controlledby the cooperation of said cam follower with a secondpredetermined portion of said cam for Withdrawing said stepping member, a .dual latching member having a'first instrumentality operable to latch said cam follower atJthe endof its cooperation with saidfirst predetermined portion of said cam and a second instrumentality operable to latch said camfollowerd uring its cooperation ,with said second predeterminedportion of saidcarn, control moansfor moving said latching memher out of engagement with said-cam follower, and signal responsivenieans. for conditioning said latching member for en gagement with said cam follower saidcambeing effective for moving said cam follower from engagement with said second latching instrumentality to engagement with s-aid first latching instrumentality.

:ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES. PATENTS 2,360,637 Anspach et;al. Oct. 17, 1944 2,361,073 Watson Oct. 2 4, 1944 2,571,182 Baldwin a? Oct.16, 195 1 

